VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A former teacher at several Volusia County high schools, accused of having sexual contact with multiple students, will spend the next 21 years in prison.
Arin Hankerd, 44, was sentenced Friday morning in Volusia County court. He has pleaded no contest to charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor by an authority figure, traveling to meet a minor by an authority figure, lewd and lascivious exhibition via computer by an authority figure, two counts of offense against students by an authority figure and two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation by an authority figure.
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Hankerd was sentenced to 21 years for one count, and 30 years of sex offender probation. He will also be designated as a sexual predator.
In February 2023, Port Orange police arrested Hankerd after receiving a report of an ongoing “relationship” between him and a 15-year-old student at Atlantic High School, where he worked as a gym teacher and football coach. He was employed at the school for about two years, as well as at Mainland and Father Lopez high schools, and Volusia County Schools said in a statement that he resigned following his arrest.
According to a charging affidavit, the 15-year-old girl’s mother found a journal with entries detailing her contact with Hankerd. The student and Hankerd used Instagram to communicate and he would send inappropriate photos to the girl using the app, according to the affidavit. Hankerd and the student had sexual interactions in a portable classroom and a gym storage room at the school over several occasions, the affidavit states.
Within days of announcing Hankerd’s arrest, Port Orange police said they were contacted about 30 times and that more potential victims from Atlantic and other high schools came forward to report sexual abuse.
Hankerd was arrested again in May 2023, this time in connection to a 2019 incident in which the victim — a 17-year-old Mainland High School student at the time — told police that he started messaging her, asking her for photos of her outfits and her in bikinis.
Hankerd also sent photos of himself wearing just boxers, according to the charging affidavit. Facebook messages in the affidavit showed explicit messages from Hankerd to the teen. The victim at one point went to his home, where Hankerd touched her and made her have oral sex, according to the document.
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